Melbourne entrepreneur Jaryd Koenigsmann’s failed crypto platform myCryptoWallet up for grabs

Liquidators are seeking expressions of interest for assets for the Melbourne-based company that was once one of Australia’s highest-profile cryptocurrency trading platforms.

Jaryd Koenigsmann is the chief executive of now-defunct cryptocurrency platform MyCryptoWallet.

Collapsed cryptocurrency platform myCryptoWallet is up for sale, with liquidators seeking expressions of interest for assets of the Melbourne-based company that was once one of Australia’s highest-profile cryptocurrency trading platforms, claiming nearly 20,000 users globally.

Liquidator Terry Grant van der Velde is seeking a buyer for the “user-friendly, customer-centric, all-inclusive digital currency service” which failed in December, leaving customers unable to access their accounts, some of whom have told The Australian they are owed as much as $50,000.

No cryptocurrency is on offer with the sale and is unclear if myCryptoWallet still holds any crypto. The sale includes intellectual property associated with the myCryptoWallet platform, along with associated software, a customer list of 18,153 users and “purpose built cryptocurrency reloadable prepaid eftpos card ‘MyCryptoCard’.

The liquidator, who has not disclosed an estimated value of the myCryptoWallet intellectual property and trading platform, was contacted for further comment.

“My preliminary investigations reveal that the company’s online platform and its technological infrastructure is commercial to realise,’’ Mr van der Velde said in a report last month.

“Accordingly, I have engaged lawyers and valuers to assist me with the process of securing the online platform and the sale of the company’s website and intellectual property.”

MyCryptoWallet was founded in 2017 by heavily tattooed serial entrepreneur Jaryd Koenigsmann, who was also the company’s sole shareholder. He was once nominated for an award as one of Melbourne’s most promising young entrepreneurs, and founded other failed start-ups including online pets classifieds company myNewPet, that launched in 2019 but entered liquidation last year with debts totalling $43,138.

MyCryptoWallet’s website declared “the power of Blockchain distributed ledger technology” would help keep its users’ cryptocurrency “more secure and traceable than a bank vault.”

Mr Koenigsmann, who could not be reached for comment, told the Blockchain Show podcast in an episode 2019 he made over $40,000 investing in cryptocurrencies including Litecoin.

“I did make a lot of money in Litecoin and thought to myself, surely someone could make an exchange better,” he said.

“We only had one exchange in Australia in that time and they held onto my money for 12 days … I couldn’t get on to any customer support. We built a platform, launched it at the end of 2018 and signed on over 20,000 users within the first three months of us launching.

“It just really started off from a spur of an idea; I flew up to Brisbane with my girlfriend and I was sitting in a pub, just thinking to myself, surely someone can do this better.”

In 2019 myCryptoWallet’s bank accounts were frozen due to a dispute with NAB, while the corporate regulator was also understood to be investigating multiple complaints directed at the company last year.

Jaryd Koenigsmann is the chief executive of now-defunct cryptocurrency platform MyCryptoWallet

Mr Koneigsmann was nominated for Business News Australia’s Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards in 2018 for his businesses myCryptoWallet, myNewPet and Melbourne co-working space Node Coworking.

“Jaryd Koenigsmann is an entrepreneur for the next generation,” the entrepreneur’s nomination reads.

“Jumping on the blockchain train, the world of crypto and co-working, Koenigsmann has quickly become a successful serial entrepreneur.”

MyCryptoWallet‘s liquidation and subsequent mooted sale follows Blockchain Global’s collapse in October, with creditors of that crypto exchange owed over $21m.

In October, a Senate inquiry recommended crypto exchanges, including the likes of myCryptoWallet and Blockchain Global, be better regulated in order to provide investors with assurance and extra protection.

While exchanges are currently required to register with Austrac for the purposes of meeting anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations, the Senate inquiry recommended the establishment of a new licensing regime with tightened obligations and requirements around the custody of digital assets.

Bitcoin fell again on Thursday, with its valuation plummeting more than 50 per cent since November and wiping off more than a trillion dollars from the market since October.